Adventures in Nail Polish and a Little Bit of Beauty

Julep Johnny

The Ultimate Julep Unicorn

Julep Johnny is a polish sought after by many Julep collectors. I call it the Ultimate Julep Unicorn, as it’s one color that seems impossible to find, but many people want. So why are so many interested in a simple black polish? I’d have to say it’s a combination of rarity and mystery.

The original Johnny was a Julep salon color, released in the circular bottle. My original Johnny is in a circular bottle. I should clarify that salon bottles are generally pretty hard to find, regardless of color, but most collectors only look for the colors that were released in the square bottle when the maven subscription started in August 2011. I refer to these as maven colors. The mystery I refer to about Johnny is if the original version was ever available in the square bottle. The official word from Julep is that Johnny has never been available in the square bottle until now. (According to a recent Live with Jane for the January 2016 Collection, here.)

Simple answer, right? Nope. There’s a review online of Julep Johnny from July 2011, right before the subscription started, in a square bottle, here. The post clearly shows Johnny in the square bottle and includes many pictures. I’ve even spoken to Mary, the blogger, who is very kind and let me pester her with many questions. She doesn’t have the polish anymore, but still has her order from her email, which clearly shows she ordered Johnny.

So did Julep release Johnny in the new bottle for a very limited run when the website launch in 2011, right before the box launched? Maybe they made so few at the time that they forgot? Or was there just this one bottle? The JaydedDreaming Blog is the only reference to Julep Johhny that can be found (until the re-release) and every picture I’ve ever seen anywhere else appears to be borrowed from that post. So who knows?

Johnny was re-released in the January 2016 Collection, so now everyone can have it. To see how the old and new compare, check out my review.

And if you ever find an original, square Julep Johnny…please let me know!